REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands men's basketball team (21-4, 13-3) completed the regular season as Co-SCIAC regular season champions after defeating Whittier College 86-82 on senior day inside Currier Gym.
Omari Ferguson and Lucas Gordon got the Bulldogs off on the right foot with five quick points and a 5-0 lead inside of a minute.
Following a pair of ties, Redlands were able to extend their lead to seven, 19-12, after a 12-5 run with Donovan Ware posting five points, Gordon three, and Jhace Boston two.
A Cam Brown jumper in the paint made it a 10-point lead, 33-23, with 4:27 remaining in the opening half. The lead was 10 as late as the 3:10 mark, but the Poets fought back, scoring nine of the final 13 points and cutting the lead to five, 41-36, at the half.
Redlands scored seven of the first nine points and reestablished their 10-point lead two minutes after the opening inbound of the second half.
The lead grew to 15, 57-42, after a successful and one by Derek Sangster. Whittier, much like the first half, though, found a way back into the game, going on a 16-3 run in only four minutes which resulted in a two-point lead for the Bulldogs.
Despite the run, the closest the Poets got was one, 68-67, with 6:24 to play.
Leading by two in the final minute, the Bulldogs forced three Poet turnovers which offset a 2-of-3 shooting mark by Whittier.
Their own offense also found seven points with Ferguson taking advantage of one of those turnovers and dunking the ball on the fastbreak. 20 second later Boston forced a turnover and finished on the break to help secure the win and their second consecutive SCIAC regular season title, the first time doing so since 1959-62 when they won three-straight.
Their 21 wins make back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 1959-61.
Gordon had a massive game with 25 points thanks to four threes and only four total missed shots and 12 rebounds while blocking three shots and recording three steals. Ferguson and Boston had 14 and 12 points each.
Redlands earned the No. 1 seed in the SCIAC Tournament over fellow co-champ Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) thanks to a season sweep of the Stags. They play the winner of the first round game on Friday, February 27 at 7 p.m. in the SCIAC Semifinal.
